1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the routing of calls in communications networks, and particularly, but not exclusively, to a method and a system for managing a user profile for use in a personal number service.
2. Description of Related Art
It has been proposed to provide a personal number service in which users of the service (personal number users (PNUs)) have a personal number (PN) and wherein a call made to a PNU by dialling the PN will be routed by the network to the network destination terminal at which the PNU has indicated that he (or she, but conventionally referred to as a male hereinafter) wants to receive his PN calls.
A simple Personal Numbering service known as "CallMe" (trade mark) is provided by VODAFONE GROUP PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY, referred to as a service provider or service operator, in which a PNU is given a PN, and it is the PNU's responsibility to register with the service provider his identity in association with the network terminal at which he wishes to be reached. This is done by the PNU making a call to the CallMe service, entering his PN, a security personal identification number (PIN) and the relevant destination terminal number (DTN), also referred to as the telephone number. This procedure is known as user registration.
Another personal numbering service known as "Personal Assistant" (trade mark) has been announced by Telecom Securicor Cellular Radio Limited, trading as Cellnet. In this service, a PNU has a user-associated profile which is personal to him and by means of answering a questionnaire he can predetermine a number of periods in the day and respective destination terminal numbers to which incoming calls to that user's network terminal are to be diverted by the network. For example, the PNU may have defined his profile for a weekday pattern of 0730 to 0830 Divert to voice messaging service (e.g. Voicebank (trade mark)), 0830 to 1830 Accept calls to office telephone number, 1830 to 1930 Divert to voice messaging service, and 1930 to 2100 Accept calls to home telephone number.
When the PNU defines his profile in the CallMe service, he prioritises the destination terminal numbers so that when attempting to locate the PNU the service will try the destination terminal number designated by the PNU for that period, and if the PNU is not found, the service proceeds to try the other destination terminal numbers in the profile in their order of priority.
The Personal Assistant service cannot cope with changes in the PNU's pattern of usage, For example, if the PNU has gone home early, calls will continue to be connected to the office telephone. In order to change the profile, the PNU will have to supply amended details using a questionnaire reply procedure, as before.
DE-A-4 420 462 discloses, in addition to a known user profile in the form of a call forwarding list arranged in priority order and to a known simple registration arrangement, an automatic registration arrangement wherein the user possesses an identification card carrying identity information. When the user comes within range of a sensor in a telephone, the sensor receives signals from the card and passes the identity information to a device, also in the telephone, which generates a log-on message containing the identity information and sends it to the service operator. When the user moves out of range, the sensor causes the device to generate and send a log-off message. If the user is currently registered at a telephone, a call for the user is routed to that telephone, but if the user is not currently registered at any telephone then a call for the user is routed to the user's mobile telephone, which, in known manner, is the first choice destination for routing calls to the user.
DE-A-4 420 462 also discloses an arrangement for an office environment, in which a plurality of telephones, each having a sensor but not having a device for generating and sending messages, are connected in series such that a call to a user is always sent to the first telephone of the series, and each telephone automatically routes the call to the next telephone in the series unless automatic routing is overridden by the user being currently sensed at a telephone. This arrangement avoids the use of a user profile containing a sequence of numbers. The switching system for the office only knows the number of the first telephone of the series.
EP-A-0 637 159 discloses an arrangement in which, if the user has authorised a call sequencing feature in connection with a set of call forwarding numbers which the user has ranked in order of priority, a caller receives an announcement that call sequencing is available. Thus, in the event that the caller wishes to make another attempt to contact the user after failing at the first call forwarding number, the caller keys a code, "*#", and the arrangement responds by making a call to the second call forwarding number, and so on.
WO-A-92 09164 discloses an automatic call distributor (ACD) in which telephony information, e.g. the Basic Rate Interface and the Dialled Number Identification Service of a call incoming to the ACD, is used to select one of a number of application programs (sales, service, support), each having a respective set of agents. Selection of an application program may also involve the area code of the calling number. The ACD maintains a set of performance data (statistics) on the agents, which is used in selecting an agent to answer the call. In one example, the total sales made by each agent is monitored and a call is directed to the agent who has made the most sales in given period. In other examples, the average time spent by each agent per call is monitored and a call is directed to the agent having the lowest (or highest) average time values. Other quantitative agent selection values, not necessarily criteria relating to the performance of the agents, can be used to decide to which of the available agents a call is to be routed, including an assigned agent performance ranking, and the amount of time that an agent has been ready to receive a call. The selection values can be chosen so as to guarantee that a new agent is not receiving too many calls, even if he might be achieving high total sales or low times per call.
In the above known arrangements having profiles, any updating of the profile is on the basis of prior knowledge of the called user's intended or actual new location, either declared to the service provider via a profile change procedure or known to the service provider via a registration process. This requires a positive action by the called user, and any failure in this will result in a mismatch between the profile and the terminal to which the called user wishes an incoming call to be delivered. Such failures can be, for example, the called user forgetting to initiate the profile change procedure or the registration process, or not carrying the above-mentioned identification card, or a failure of the identification card sensing system.